This is a disgraceful article which details events and political polarisation in Greece as if the Greeks themsleves were entirely responsible for them.
Not once is the catalyst mentioned: that insane, parasitical, social engineering project promoted by the criminal organisation in Brussels, making and breaking its own laws, promoter of European DisUnion.
Perhaps Brussels will get the message when violence explodes on a greater scale in Spain and Italy, moving northward.

Exactly, no article attacks the true source of the problem because they're paid off not to, and it's the EU with the Euro that is the source of all this mess and trying to amalgamate/destroy national sovereignty/democracy, mass immigration is just another part of the destruction of national identity, these commies in Brussels don't need bullets to do it this time, people are too blind to see they're committing national and democratic suicide to a dictatorship that OWNS all 27 nations.

Oh yeah, let's focus on the group with an ancient Hellenic Greek symbol on their flag standing for unity/victory and NOT the party with the Hammer and Sickle on their flag(The KKE Greece "Communist!!" party) https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_9vTD5vUYPY/TaV0ZHwiG1I/AAAAAAAADBk/b... a symbol used when murdering over a hundred million people in the space of 1 century alone, millions more into starvation and officials ordering the mass rape of women as 'Spoils of War' - just because it's not 'Racist'(they don't discriminate against their prey, derp) you people make me sick. Yeah yeah, so Golden Dawn are patriots and want to preserve their heritage and culture whipdy-do who doesn't, really? Of course it's only white people that are expected to give up everything they have because immigrants 'Can't handle being run by dictatorships and are wanting a better life' News Flash: Our ancestors FOUGHT for their freedoms AND ours, not THEIRS, our ancestors fought THEM to give us OUR freedoms, it is how WE made the free world, like when the Persians, Turks and Mongolians invaded Europe, we fought them and won OUR freedoms(heck, we learned all the tactics to oppress people from outsiders in the first place :P).

You want freedom? Don't beg for it, take it, we can't help the rest of the 6billion people on the planet, we are not Gods(Yeah, I'm not a supremacist) we are human, we can't save everyone, they don't even show respect when we bring them in, they expect everything handed to them on a silver plate, cry racist every day just because things aren't going their way or having a bad day, commit crimes more-so than the majority and give nothing in return that we can't do ourselves, if there were no non-European immigrants, fruit would still be picked and lawns still be mown(And hey, there would be no racism or racial gang violence from all sides either! :D).

If Golden Dawn wants to remove the weaknesses holding them down from being happy, they're entitled to it, they don't have to be forced into misery to cater to everyone else. Golden Dawn is the least of our concerns, but if the EU and UN keep forcing them to destroy themselves and their identity by trying to merge Europe in one cesspool state like Yugoslavia then they will be responsible for something truly terrible, it's about time they got their asses out of there.

You want to know the true reason behind the violence? It's called the status-quo collapsing, the extremes of the right AND left rising, because of the EU and their stupid one-currency scheme strangling Greece under the weight of Germany, the dollar is too big for Greece, they're also getting their identity and self-worth ripped from them, humiliated on the international stage, hunger and poverty and getting no say in anything that happens to them.(Sounds a lot like communism, huh?). And why would Golden Dawn say to their followers "Hey! Go and beat the crap out of some illegals, we'll reward you for it!" do they really think they would be stupid enough to tarnish themselves so early on or risk getting dropped from parliament THIS early? Come on, saying Golden Dawn promotes violence is really just insane at this point in time.

Anyone notice how there's been two bomb explosions at Golden Dawns offices when there have been none done to any opposition sides buildings? Who's really getting nasty here? People planting bombs(The left wing commies and anarchists) or people getting slightly frustrated and speaking their mind on things? I'm going to go and say the people with freedom of speech and speaking their minds are the least dangerous...

Of course there's violence and frustration from every which way(has Golden Dawn ordered it? I doubt it, or else there'd be bombs at their opposition), humans can never break that animal instinct of 'Survival', only now it's the TRUE Greeks fighting back instead of being push-overs, illegal immigrants have always caused mayhem, and finally people are starting to see it.(Just because they're human, doesn't mean they won't bring whatever dirty desert tactics they grew up with, with them when they immigrate - like the constant and fast rise of child genital mutilation in Britain, when has THAT been apart of British culture? I'd like to know please :D)

There's better ways to help people rather than bending over and getting it in the rear while you watch everything your ancestors worked for to give you getting stripped away and losing your own identity in the process, unfortunately people these days are either A) Too weak to just tell people "No" or B) Too stupid to do anything right - I'm going to go with both though, the stupidity and educationally devalued times has run it's course, it's time to bring in some people with brains and balls...next.

(Same poster as before)They're teaching Greek History and about their Christian god? I LOVE Greek history, those kids will enjoy it and get to learn about their recent Faith also, not only of the other foreign Gods for a change(Even though I'm Atheist, parents have the right to teach their children what they believe will benefit and protect their child). If a parent sends their kids to school and they have a faith, that faith should take precedence over learning about others. Do Christian kids even learn about Christianity these days in school or even their own culture whether Christian or not? My guess is no, only about others. Soon they're even going to have to change what language they learn to 'accommodate' the newcomers like in California USA and teaching Spanish >.> roflmao Sounds more like ethnic/racial/religious cleansing to me...wait, isn't that genocide under UN international law?(My guess is only the government is allowed to get away with it :P).

Not only are the police "reluctant to lay down a formal challenge" to Golden Dawn, they actually refer people to them in cases where they are unable to act, whether it's due to a lack of resources or a lack of legal power.

A friend who lived there heard of such a case, where a landlord looking to evict a tenant was told by the police to go to Golden Dawn if he wanted it 'sorted out', after he inquired, he established they would willingly send thugs to intimidate (by means of violence) the tenant.

Indeed it would be funny to have the most vocal racists subjected to modern 'genealogical' DNA tests that can reveal descent from ancient populations 10.000's of years ago (e.g. National Geographic's Geno 2.0). B.t.w. apparently the only pure homo sapiens are the Africans, as all Europeans have an admixture of Neanderthals...;)

The Golden Dawn's "use of violence" scarcely makes them "exceptional" within the Greek political landscape. Leftist parties such as KKE and SYRIZA each have their own "security patrols" - the KKE was well known for violent guerrilla and terrorist tactics during its formative decades. Obviously the New Democracy party has a monopoly on violence through its control of the armed forces, police and internal security which has been widely deployed during the anti-austerity popular uprisings. The direct action of the Golden Dawn, especially in response to unrelenting Muslim immigration into Greece from and directed by the Turkish government, is unambiguously supported by a sizeable segment of the population - which accounts for their respectable number of seats in the Syntagma.

"the New Democracy party has a monopoly on violence through its control of the armed forces, police and internal security"
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When you start equating a legitimate government's efforts to enforce the law with some thugs' violence to impose their will on the majority, then my friend that's the beginning of the end. Whether right or left, you are on Hitler's path.

Irrespective of GD 's tactics and manifesta, I dont see why should a country like Greece which is blighted by poverty and unemployment be futher burdened by hordes of unwanted illegal immigrants . Yes, those desperate and destitute people are human too and deserve support and humanitarian relief but Greece should just not be the port of call and landing. If the rest of Europe wants to rescue and integrate the massive loads of immigrants , all very well. The reality now is that other EU countries are fastening and limiting the asylum procedures to halt the mass immigration. I heard a few days ago that the UK , the most open of countries so far, will limit access to healthcare and schools for new unqualifying immigrants, as it has become a problem. Borders are tightening fast suddenly where it was no swear getting through before..

Greece does not have the infrastructure , the surplus and the jobs to avail, so illegal immigrants become an explosive social problem. Healthcare in Greece is already in dire condition, and the immigrants compete with the natives for hospital beds . They are hungry so they steal and kill. The elderly and poor are mostly suffering . This is what GD is trying to address, wrong tactics , wrong messages but the majority of Greeks agree with the principle, not with the violence
. Why is this xenophobia let alone racism ? It is just survival .
And for all those who cry racist : Come to Greece and feed the ones that GD is not feeding , or even better take them with you and welcome them in your philoxenia paradises. Then you talk from an equal standing.

"..hordes of illegal immigrants.." - you got to be kidding. Why would anyone in their right minds want to move to bankrupt, poverty-stricken & imploding Greece??
GD (Genocidal Devils) should focus on addressing the real issues & root causes for Greece's predicament, instead of scapegoating immigrants - legal or otherwise - who are the least of their manifold problems.
Wake up & smell the stench of xenophobia & racism before hate consumes you too.

The hordes of desperate immigrants who have been arriving in Greece were hoping for a move to better pastures in Italy , Germany or North Europe, and dont forget they come from devastated places so Greece is still paradise for them, it is understandable but unsustainable. Greece cannot avail the benefits and handouts that they expect and the jobs are just not there any more or scarce.
Why dont you take a stroll sometime in downtown Athens or the Patras suburbs and you can see for your self the reality . Easy to talk from afar..
Yes, GD has been cleaning up where police has not dared to tread and locals are grateful for this. When poverty and hunger strikes , the locals everywhere think of themselves and their families first, so if GD comes as a saviour , so be it.

The causes of the problems are indeed elsewhere . Anyway, illegal immigration is just one burning issue but not the only one , and will hopefully be resolved , the situation has already improved on this front.
I am not clear as to what genocide you are referring to , and I think these are qualifications that need to be carefully used , otherwise it is just empty talk and slander .
I dont vote for GD and dont agree with most of their their tactics, but tend to agree with their stance on Greek language, history and religion that this article is demonising . They are resonating with many of the masses and elites alike. I bet , should they get the right PR tutoring and makeover , they will be getting 20 % of the vote soon; crying foul and alleging xenophobia and al will not halt their inexorable advancement. I know quite a few people who were voting communist before and have now switched to GD.

Thank you for your cogent & thoughtful response. I see where you are coming from & I feel your pain too.
All I'm saying is, illegal immigrants are the least of Greece's problems. GD (& the nation) should be confronting & battling the real issues that have led to the financial calamity your nation is reeling under, rather than obsessing about minor demographic glitches.
Targeting minorities/illegals maybe a popular & easy way to let off political steam, but this will certainly not resolve or alliviate the underlying problems crippling your nation.

The problem is that "moderates" have simply ignored the real problems and pretended they do not exist. When old ladies are robbed and beaten up and sent to the hospital with multiple fractures in broad daylight, or when people get murdered or when a second furlough is given to convicted murderers who did not even bother to return from their first, when illegal immigrants occupy the Law school demanding legalization and the government makes a deal with them, or when the government passes an extremist law giving citizenship even to people who have murdered but have not been convicted beyond appeal yet, then someone has to fill that void. Regrettably there is no sane moderate party, which is what is badly needed. Hence the GD scum leadership has a field day. This is neither punishment from God, nor mass paranoia or conversion to fascism: It is a monumental failure of ordinary politicians to do anything right.

Violence, whether it comes from far left (anarchist-antiauthoritarian space) or extreme right (nationalists) leads to the same result, the catalysis of Democracy. Precisely for this reason, the State (not as an abstract concept but through political action of elected officials and their democratic institutions) must act and provide lawful protection of its citizens and those legally residing in its territory.

I hate to say it but it's hard not to notice that in general, the ultra right, anywhere - not just in Greece - are far more inclined to be either overtly & unashamedly racists or latent racists-in-denial, looking for any excuse to blame immigrants for their (self-created) social &/or financial predicaments.
This ingrained & cultivated propensity for xenophobia comes to the fore, especially when their country goes through economic hard times. Minority groups/immigrants then become easy targets for scapegoating, fingerpointing & racial mudslinging. I call this human frailty (psychosis?) "Passing the buck Syndrome".
Sooner these misguided, hate-driven racial miscreants realise that xenophobia will resolve nothing, the sooner they can start to tackle the real problems, facing them & their respective nations.
Take responsibilty for your own self-inflicted mistakes, for crying out loud!

These Banksters basically screwed the Greeks into the ground with this false hope of a united Europe, and now the media they own, like a snooty wife, wants to complain about the rising tide of Greek Nationalism. They're lucky it's just 11% and not 100. The tough rhetoric needs to focus on the real issues. Help the Greek people, teach Greek history, and leave the antisemitism and gay bashing alone, it only cheapens the cause. Dress and act appropriately. Only a fool gives the enemy ammunition. ANYONE who throws Brussels out of Greek affairs should be hailed as a National Hero. Bold actions are needed here. Default on the debt and return to the Drachma, the sooner the better. There are enough good reasons to fight. Now, identify the real enemy and fight like men, or you will remain marginalized.

I use the term "fictitious capital" to describe what the Big Bankers, public and private, are attempting to inflict on the ordinary 99% people who through their entrepreneur led labour create ALL REAL value, capital included.
In the middle of the 19th century Karl Marx coined this term to describe the notes and loans that governments and gentry used to finance wars, luxuries, estates and otherwise living beyond their REAL means. Only his term was really new, Aristotle and many who followed him before Marx, elaborated on the dangers of worthless money. Democratic Athens and militaristic Sparta supplied the concrete examples of each.
At Marx’ time such paper would accrue during "Boom" times as the economy expanded and would usually max out at around 10-12% of a countries GDP. As long as the good times rolled on it was not a problem, but came a crisis of over production (of all the wrong things) there would be the day of reckoning. Ergo, the bill collectors came and cash not paper promises was the order of the day. This resulted in a variety of ways to settle; some were paid in part or in full but more often bankruptcies and swindles resulted. Then the stage was set for the next cycle - boom bust.
Today though the situation with 'fictitious' or 'counterfeit capital is vastly different.
100 years of pumped up growth for growths sake first based on the now discredited ideas of John Maynard Keynes has produced a situation where some 20 times the worlds gross product exists as fictitious capital, a counterfeit collection of deficits, bills, bonds, exchanges, derivatives, bubbles (real estate) swaps and the latest fraud, "quantitive easing". (Le Monde Diplomatique puts it at 50 times)
$$Dollars, Єєuros, RRubles, Ль, &с…all the same!!
To grasp the idiocy inherent in these figures imagine approaching your friendly personal banker for a loan, line of credit or mortgage some 20 times your net collateral worth; how far do you suppose that might fly?
Yet with the above listed gimmicks, that is precisely what members of the bankster clique, supported by military-industrial complexes do amongst themselves.
Every day we read of new Central and private bank meetings, "Increasing capital base" is their current fad.
OFF THE WALL! There is not a farthing of REAL capital in all of this rat-bag of lies, swindles and manipulations.
REAL capital is ONLY accumulated labour dedicated to enhancing future production. Ergo entrepreneur led LABOUR (of the 99%) is the only source that can augment existing capital or create new.
The banksters, led by the IMF, USA FED, and British "financial services" are well aware of this fact but that will not stop them from attempting to download this fraud onto the REAL product of Labour in the form of "bailouts" of "sovereign" debts, to be serviced by taxes on the REAL producers.
The 99% will be robbed of (much prepaid) social services and benefits to service "debts". “Austerity” it is called when those who had NO hand in running up this fraud are required to pay interest that will amount to 40-60% of the future product of their labour. Gone will be pensions, good schools, decent medical care, infrastructure (e.g. utilities that work reliably), environmental protection; even adequate diets will be history. "Let them eat cake!" exclaimed La Royale Marie Antoinette.
Let them eat (genetically modified) garbage, implies La Grande Dame Christine La Garde, of the International Monetary Fascists(IMF)
So Greece, you are the front line today, Italy and Spain may be next, but do not think that any country, including the relatively well off Germany or the resource rich Canada and Australia will be forever exempt. Ms Merkel, beware!
The "poor little ones" are but appetizers; they will whet the appetites of these financial service vultures and jackals. For certain, like buzzards flocking to road kill. if they succeed in the beginning the taste of financial carrion will make them hunger for more, and they will finish only when the 99% of humanity is subject as debtors to enslavement by the 1%.
But this does not have to be!
Greece you can repudiate the fraud! Lead the way! DEFAULT is the way to go!
99%; be inclusive! Occupy-Idlenomore, Support Greece and Slovenia today, Italy Spain, …, &c. tomorrow and.../?/ the world in future.
Hold on to your souls! Hang tough!
You have a WORLD to WIN!!
P.S. For those of you who may have read this comment previously, Churchill’s advice immediately springs to mind:
“When you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile-driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.”

You got that right. But the gullible & delusional 'rich-wannabes' are so stricken with insatiable greed, that they can't see the trees from the woods, which is precisely how the rich & powerful 1% want them to be: transfixed by the carrots they dangle..

Commenter Cutters is straight on the mark. As a 'progressive' paper, The Economist just can't afford to utter anything outside the Left-wing orthodox lie that fascism and Nazism were extreme right-wing parties. Just a glance on their membership shows both were overwhelmingly proletarian - to much higher degree than any Communist party.
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As the political violence is concerned, this is also inherently Left-wing trait: from the Spartakists (Communists) shooting outs with brownshirts in the 1920s Germany to contemporary Greek terrorist gangs: Revolutionary Organization 17 November, Revolutionary Struggle, Revolutionary Nuclei, Sect of Revolutionaries, Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei - all of them radical Left.
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A remark on the article: I don't dig it, what is so incriminating about pictures of "neatly dressed children with their parents"? If those were stoned punks with studded mugs spitting on their poor mamma, would they merit The Economist's approval?

You are right in the sense that normally working class people aspire for better life for themselves and their progeny, and they are pragmatic.
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Instinctively or consciously, most of them know that stupid communistic utopias won't fulfill no promises and that the Red won't act up to their own fairy tales. That Left are just peddling lies for political gain. (Not that politicians of any other persuasion don't do that, it's just that the Left have the biggest mouths.)
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So the contemporary communist parties, especially in the West, are full with middle and upper middle class freaks whose brain was not able properly to digest education for which daddy had so heavily coughed up. As a Brit, you needn't look further than the CPB (or CPGB, as it was known till 1988). The party's main source of membership is Oxbridge, and a typical member - Tilda Swinton, substantially freaky actress with aristocratic roots going back for several hundred years.
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But you are wrong when you think of working class people as overwhelmingly stupid and delusional. Percentage of fools among them is, on average, same as among other societal strata, with a possible exception of aristocracy (there fools are prevailing). This is actually a very common malady among the middle class Left: they are looking down their nose at the very proletarians who they sworn to lead to the shining collectivist heights. Rhetoric cannot hide their contempt of those in whose service they pretend to be.

Notice how as Zorbas has just observed “”ANYONE who throws Brussels out of Greek affairs should be hailed as a National Hero” – just like in Italy.

Meanwhile Britain, Germany, Austria, Finland and Holland asked the European Commission for tougher European Union rights of residency rules in attempts to stop EU foreign nationals coming to these countries to claim benefits. .

Brussels, the biggest parasite on the tax-payers of the “EU’s” net contributor states, naturally has rejected this as a “non-problem”!

It seems that the electorates of these northern states whom Brussels is determined to ignore, are telling them otherwise.

Brussels is sealing its own death warrant. It is hated by victims “rich” (not for much longer) and poor: the Med , the North, and soon the East as their citizens feel the reaction from the North directly.

The “EU” could not have done a better job of poisoning relations in the real Europe.

What part of that description is 'right wing'? It was a Socialist Workers Party, which is 'left wing' by all logical definition and philosophical policy. So while other Socialist parties can be compared to Nazi's, doing so for any party on the right is simply ludicrous and moronic.

Perhaps The Economist meant 'Fascist', which while close to national Socialism externally, has a different philosophical ideology.

What The Economist claims to be a Nazi salute historically comes from Francis Bellamy & Edward Bellamy, as does nationalist Socialist dogma.

Has the Economist got any proof that what it sees as left wing parties are less violent, or perhaps that they are bigger advocates of Democracy?

Perhaps The Economist would like to go further, and answer way it is that a 'European Socialist' magazine (very pro- EU) happens to be one that has roots in nationalist socialism:http://www.europeanaction.com/index.html

Without wishing to be a troll. You are obviously rather silly and your above post does nothing to dissuade me of that opinion.
Have a little look at the definition of right and left wing politics, Fascism, and Socialism.
That the Nazi's mis-appropriated a word doesn't exactly mean that they were correct in it's usage.

The red part of the Nazi's symbol is part of the acknowledgement that they use socialist ideals. The Nazi's new what they were, they used the same excuses that socialists use for Marxist lead ideology in killing those with, what could be called, genetic abnormalities.

Basically see rule 62, 75 and 11.

I know what left and right political philosophy is, perhaps you should be more then just browse a section on wiki, and go to the library and read.

This news is really shocking!!!
The economical crisis in Greece is now turning into a terrible political crisis. The right-wing supporters may repeat the tragedy of Nazi. The whole world, especially the UN, should act as soon as possible to stop those Greek leaders to follow the same disastrous road. The political crisis is much more severe and devastating than the simply temporary economical crisis. The Greek teenager may suffer from the misleading instructions both mentally and physcially. The use of violence and vicious penalty would not be prevented if the burst of another Nazi trend occured.

It is quite clear that prolonged economic depression--the numbers in Greece and Spain justify that characterization--leads to profound political change. With luck, it can be the "New Deal", as in the US in 1933. With less luck, you get a Lenin/Stalin or a Hitler. Or Golden Dawn.

The essential problem is that over-indebted no-growth economies are creating the desperation of a whole generation that feels abandoned by the system. A quarter of the Italian electorate just voted for Beppe Grillo and his Five Star Movement--a "non-party" with no real program or idea on how to go forward, but who just know they don't want what there is today. Ominous stuff.

This is why one generation living beyond its means at the expense of the next generation is a criminal Ponzi scheme. Politicians who lure voters into such schemes should be held accountable in public trials held in criminal courts.

This is not just an economic issue. Anytime extremists rise is the result of "moderates" not doing their job, namely ignoring the people's true problems. Deal with them and extremists go away. For the case of GD, the Greek governments have allowed a HUGE number of illegal immigrants inside the country, no questions asked, no control. Ask them, 'how many illegal immigrants are in the country' and the answer is 'we do not know'! As a result, old ladies are killed or robbed and sent to the hospital with multiple fractures in broad daylight. The "moderate" response to that is essentially "get used to it". Their idea of security is granting a second furlough to convicted murderers who never bothered to return from their first furlough. All these are real cases. To add insult to injury, there was a government initiative to grant citizenship even to murderers who have not yet exhausted their right to an appeal. So a) it's not just economy and b) to second la.vitrivy's verdict, the crimes are not just financial. And, they will not pay for them.

TomAlex, your comment goes hand in hand with the one above because the reason they want all these immigrants to to prolong the system of the old stealing from the young. Only a pyramid shaped population can support the current overspending thus they need the immigrants and they could care less about the average Greek.

No. How does unsolicited window washing support anything? In contrast to countries like Germany or the US which control immigration and tailor it to their economic needs, we are talking about an open door policy, no questions asked.

Like Robert Redford said in 'Lions for Lambs', the greek political system makes the US one look like it came from the future. If a bunch of illegal immigrants were to ocupy the Law School in a State University demanding a green card, would the US government negotiate with them? Also look at my posts above "Their idea of security is granting a second furlough to convicted murderers who never bothered to return from their first furlough." and recall Mike Dukakis and the 1988 Willie Horton case. If an illegal immigrant is caught at the border crossing, the US does not simply register them and let them cross. And, South Americans are much easier to integrate than Afghans, Pakistanis, Somalis etc. So, if you want to compare bad administrations, if Greece is in the major leages, the US would not even make it to the minor leagues.

"Golden Dawn is not like other rightwing parties". But it is isn't it ?, and isn't the current economic climate in Greece also somewhat similar to a historical precedent in another european country. The economic climate then was also created by terrible government

By TIMO SOINI
When I had the honor of leading the True Finn Party to electoral victory in April, we made a solemn promise to oppose the bailouts of euro-zone member states. Europe is suffering from the economic gangrene of insolvency—both public and private. Unless we amputate that which cannot be saved, we risk poisoning the whole body.
To understand the real nature and purpose of the bailouts, we first have to understand who really benefits from them.
At the risk of being accused of populism, we'll begin with the obvious: It is not the little guy who benefits. He is being milked and lied to in order to keep the insolvent system running. He is paid less and taxed more to provide the money needed to keep this Ponzi scheme going. Meanwhile, a symbiosis has developed between politicians and banks: Our political leaders borrow ever more money to pay off the banks, which return the favor by lending ever more money back to our governments.
In a true market economy, bad choices get penalized. Instead of accepting losses on unsound investments—which would have led to the probable collapse of some banks—it was decided to transfer the losses to taxpayers via loans, guarantees and opaque constructs such as the European Financial Stability Fund.
The money did not go to help indebted economies. It flowed through the European Central Bank and recipient states to the coffers of big banks and investment funds.
Further contrary to the official wisdom, the recipient states did not want such "help," not this way. The natural option for them was to admit insolvency and let failed private lenders, wherever they were based, eat their losses.
That was not to be. Ireland was forced to take the money. The same happened to Portugal.
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Getty Images
Unfortunately for this financial and political cartel, their plan isn't working. Already under this scheme, Greece, Ireland and Portugal are ruined. They will never be able to save and grow fast enough to pay back the debts with which Brussels has saddled them in the name of saving them.
Setting up the European Stability Mechanism is no solution. It would institutionalize the system of wealth transfers from private citizens to compromised politicians and failed bankers, creating a huge moral hazard and destroying what remains of Europe's competitive banking landscape.
Fortunately, it is not too late to stop the rot. For the banks, we need honest, serious stress tests. Stop the current politically inspired farce. Instead, have parallel assessments done by regulators and independent groups including stakeholders and academics. Trust, but verify.
Insolvent banks and financial institutions must be shut down, purging insolvency from the system. We must restore the market principle of freedom to fail.
If some banks are recapitalized with taxpayer money, taxpayers should get ownership stakes in return, and the entire board should be kicked out. But before any such taxpayer participation can be contemplated, it is essential to first apply big haircuts to bondholders.
For sovereign debt, the freedom to fail is again key. Significant restructuring is needed for genuine recovery. Yes, markets will punish defaulting states, but they are also quick to forgive. Current plans are destroying the real economies of Europe through elevated taxes and transfers of wealth from ordinary families to the coffers of insolvent states and banks. A restructuring that left a country's debt burden at a manageable level and encouraged a return to growth-oriented policies could lead to a swift return to international debt markets.
This is not just about economics. People feel betrayed. In Ireland, the incoming parties to the new government promised to hold senior bondholders responsible, but under pressure they succumbed, leaving their voters with a sense of disenfranchisement. The elites in Brussels have said that Finland must honor its commitments to its European partners, but Brussels is silent on whether national politicians should honor their commitments to their own voters.
I was raised to know that genocidal war must never again be visited on our continent and I came to understand the values and principles that originally motivated the establishment of what became the European Union. This Europe, this vision, was one that offered the people of Finland and all of Europe the gift of peace founded on democracy, freedom and justice. This is a Europe worth having, so it is with great distress that I see this project being put in jeopardy by a political elite who would sacrifice the interests of Europe's ordinary people in order to protect certain corporate interests.
Mr. Soini is chairman of the True Finn Party in Finland

Trotsky said "Fascism is the result of the workers failing to make a worker revolution"
He was half way there; he neglected to outline the lack of leadership by so called "progressives of the time. The social democrats, socialists, Marxists, academics &c. sat on their hands while the Banksters (mostly British) looted the various treasuries, then tried to off load the cost of "The Great War" onto the German working class. Then they were "shocked" when the NAZIS filled the vacuum and lead the workers onto the streets to overturn the order of the day. The same is true today; It is the fanatical right that voices the fraud that "financial services" in capitalist society is. The "academic" left sits on their "liberal" ends while the system destroys. Here is something from the "True Finns":
By TIMO SOINI

So, if I got you right, "the fanatical right" Nazis and fascists led workers to overturn the order of the day... and won, at least for some time. That leads to three possibilities.
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1) Workers were fanatically Right, too.
2) Or Nazis and fascists, together with workers, were Left, not Right.
3) Many millions of European workers ("masses", to use the favorite Marxian term) were Left, but so stupid that they wasn't able to see the Rights' deception.
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What do you choose?

As only (3) contains an element of truth and relevance I will comment on it.
First the term "masses" as used by Marx is an insult to the variety of skills, occupations, ideas, cultures contained in the "working class" which in his time and now is the majority of the productive 99%. That lack of respect is a serious obstacle to "progressives" of his time and ours gaining the respect of those they supposedly champion. To tell a person who has apprenticed, interned and/or practiced a unique set of abilities that his labour is "abstract" and that he ought to forget any opportunities that go with same and passively "sink" (or stink) into the Prolitariot is a non starter.

Absurd and negative as most of Hitlerism was they did not make that fatal error; hence they were able to take much of the world's most resilient and productive working class into a movement that beyond pointing out the true nature of Banksters, had nothing else but violence and plunder for an agenda. Unfortunately, workers who are not "stupid" are mostly preoccupied with daily bread and butter agendas; hence they may be led in to negativity.

As only (3) contains an element of truth and relevance I will comment on it.
First the term "masses" as used by Marx is an insult to the variety of skills, occupations, ideas, cultures contained in the "working class" which in his time and now is the majority of the productive 99%. That lack of respect is a serious obstacle to "progressives" of his time and ours gaining the respect of those they supposedly champion. To tell a person who has apprenticed, interned and/or practiced a unique set of abilities that his labour is "abstract" and that he ought to forget any opportunities that go with same and passively "sink" (or stink) into the Prolitariot is a non starter.

Absurd and negative as most of Hitlerism was they did not make that fatal error; hence they were able to take much of the world's most resilient and productive working class into a movement that beyond pointing out the true nature of Banksters, had nothing else but violence and plunder for an agenda. Unfortunately, workers who are not "stupid" are mostly preoccupied with daily bread and butter agendas; hence they may be led in to negativity.

golden dawn provides food and shelter to starving greeks free of charge..on the opposite side is the greek government who spend all greece tax euros on military equipment, bailing out their bank buddies and looking after the illegal immigrants! not one cent of greece's tax euros is spent on medical, food and shelter..unless you're an illegal immigrant!! but greeks get nothing!!

What Greece will the Golden Dawn build, mate? A Greece of violence? A Greece built upon hatred?

What are you going to do if the Dawn get to power and then turn out to only be concerned with their interest, not Greece? You'll have chucked away democracy and demolished the civilian institutions. You won't even have the tools to make your life better.

Don't blame the messenger. The true criminals are those Greek politicians who, in the past, robbed the succeeding generations of a fair chance for a prosperous, decent life. The only real chance this generation of Greeks has is default - a fully fledged default and a fresh start.

Another fact that makes Golden Dawn exceptional is their use of internet trolls, spewing and up-voting bile in forums big and small. Given the content of the article, that they have picked this low hanging fruit shouldn't come as a surprise.